1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of automatic control systems in which a mechanical device executes a series of steps under control of a program stored in a computer.
2. Prior Art
The prior art relating to programmed manipulators is typified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,051, and more particularly to a type thereof wherein, in the teaching operation, digital positional signals indicative of an actual position of a manipulating portion brought into a desired position and digital operation signals indicative of an actual operational state are memorized in a memory as digital instruction signals indicative of an objective position of the manipulated portion and also indicative of an operational content of the memory at the time of the repetitive reproducing operation of the manipulator.
In a typical example of the programmed manipulators heretofore known, it is required to execute a teaching operation by manually driving the manipulating portion through desired positions in accordance with a predetermined sequence of operations, thereby to write into a memory a required number of digital position signals indicative of the actual positions taken by the manipulating portion together with other operational instruction signals such as instruction signals for the accessories to be co-operated with the manipulating portion and those for determining the driving speeds of the manipulating portion, and thereafter to execute repetitive reproducing operation by successively reading these operational instructions in the form of the digital instruction signals indicative of the objective positions of the manipulating portion, out of the memory, together with the above-mentioned other operational instruction signals.